Jamie Thomas for Olloclip, the indispensable, yet disposable lens and adapter kits for smart phones. What do I mean by that? Olloclip allows you to quickly an conveniently expand the native photo and videography capabilities of your iPhone (or Samsung) by clipping a a high quality wide angle, macro, or telephoto lens. The lenses work great, actually, but they aren’t super cheap, and if you invest the $60-$100 in one their packages, you are shit out of luck when you switch to a new phone. That’s right, though your old lenses don’t become obsolete when you get a new phone, the bracket that mounts them onto your phone becomes totally useless, and they do not offer the ability to buy just the bracket. What are you supposed to do with your old one? Well according to a spokesperson you are “free to give them away or sell them on eBay.” So while I can’t argue against the quality of the product (Olloclips are massively useful, especially when photographing/videoing skateboarding, and they are well made), I can not help but be angry about planned obsolescence and unnecessary waste. After all, it’s not as if Apple doesn’t have a history of changing…

Before Mark Conahan was a renown skateboard cartoonist and all around ripper, he was a chubby little kid who modeled for Campbell’s Soup. At least that’s what I’d like to think since I lost my notes on this Campbell’s Soup store display featuring a kid on a skateboard. It looks very 80’s but could easily have been from the 90’s as well. Then again, those volleyball kneepads are very 70’s. Even though that board style existed in the late 70’s, the archives of S&A have pretty much demonstrated that art directors always lag a good 5-10 years behind the times whine comes to skateboard illustrations, so we can’t be sure.

This is an excellent 60’s era window display for the Continental Surf Skater. Tommy Ryan, San Diego’s Skate Board Champion says “Get the Winning Continetal Surf Skater Here!” – As advertised on TV. How cute: Little Tommy looks adorable and the industry is still using the two word qualifier “Skate Board.” There was a Tommy Ryan in the downhill circuit in the 70’s, given the young age of the kid in this poster, likely the same one. This has nothing to do with the Replacements reunion tour.

Scion brings you the worst ever Northwest skatepark tour, featuring Riley Hawk and something called a “Shep Dawg” crew. There’s something to be said for traveling off the beaten path, but given the wealth available terrain in the Northwest, the park selection is pretty weak. They actually go to a good spot (Windells) but it’s raining, so they stick to the indoor section. Let’s face it, nobody wants/needs to see a session at an indoor wooden skatepark unless it’s phenomenal. Then there’s a prolonged, implied commercial for Exit Real World that sticks out like a sore thumb. The contrast and tension between the spots, action and bad soundtrack (which you can download) makes the whole damned thing really awkward. But then here I am reposting it, so it works on some level. The screen capture above is the best part of the video, watch the rest at your peril. – Thanks to MC for the tip.

This is a 1980 advertisement for Kodak photo paper featuring Michael Landon. This ad came out in the 101’st year of the company when they were probably at their peak. 30 years later they filed for bankruptcy mostly due to the fact that they couldn’t keep up with the world of digital photography, despite having invented it! Michael says you should order more fun for everyone. Sure, why not? It looks like the kid in the photo is wearing volleyball kneepads and a couple of rolls of paper towels around his elbows. I’m not sure about that skateboard either. The single conical wheels are pristine but I’ve seen issues of Thrasher thicker than that deck.

I couldn’t find out a single thing about who this Tiffany Eubank is. There are too many current day Tiffany Eubanks littering social media for Google to be much help. I believe she must have been an English model or actress. She was featured in a series of ads for Ushers Green Stripe scotch doing things like skydiving and skateboarding. The advertisement on the left ran in 1965, the same year as this Nash Sidewalk Surfboard ad. Actually, It’s unclear what company produced this advert. It appeared in a surfing magazine, and Surfing Heritage lists Ventura International Plastics (in Ventura) as the manufacturer of the Duke Kahanamoku surfboard model, but the Nash name is not on the (at least) 2 different Duke Kahanamoku skateboards, and their address was in Texas even back then. Then there’s the mail away surfing stickers. That address is for a third entity called Program Sales with a Hollywood address. It’s a bit of a head scratcher, but the Cowabunga ad is a pretty cool one.

BuckyLasek appears on a window screen advertisement for Rockstar energy drink on at a local 7-11. Party like a rockstar Bucky!

It started out as a quick and simple operation; Buy a page out of a magazine with a rabbit riding a skateboard, wait for it to arrive in the mail, then scan it and post it. Then, have a discussion with the wife about the basement full of nominally skateboard related materials slowly expanding to fill the available volume. What will become of it after I shuffle off this mortal coil? How will my loved ones know what belongs in landfill as opposed to what might be sold for a modest fee to chip away at a lifetime’s debt? Whatever you do, don’t decide to do any last minute research before you write it up… Nesquik Bunny, or (Quik Bunny, depending on the year) has a character glass, web and video games, print ads and computer themes, but no PVC character. This is most likely, the definitive Nesquik “Quicky” the bunny on a skateboard post. The Nesquik bunny is also an advocate for DIY concrete as well! UPDATE: Found an Italian animated commercial with the Nesquik rabbit riding a skateboard.

Kickers looks like it was the 70’s equivalent of Sketchers, only slightly more hip. May not be anthropologically qualified to make that statement, so I depend on UK readers to chip in here. Although that is Rod Stewart in heyday, who was much cooler than Kim Kardashian, Tori Spelling, Britney Spears and even Wayne Gretzky. It’s unclear whether the Kickers shoe brand ever had an actual skateboard team considering the lack of functionality in those high heeled shoes that look more at home on Slade or Rod Stewart than they do on anyone riding a skateboard. They did have a sticker though.

Here’s a trio of advertisements featuring Tony Hawk that range in date from 1999 to 2005. All of them are for non-skateboarding products and were taken from assorted comic books. Take what you want, but eat what you take.